PCC consultation, Chicago, October 2023. Photo by Tim Cargal.
Last week, the Presbyteries’ Cooperative Committee on Examinations for Candidates (PCC) held an in-person consultation in Chicago, continuing its ongoing response to concerns from across the church following the Winter 2023 Bible Exegesis Exam.
Following the consultation, PCC members issued a statement of gratitude to conversation partners and shared a list of actions the executive committee took regarding the exam process.
Among those actions are “continuing work to address the cross-cultural accessibility of exam questions and the cultural competency of PCC members,” including PCC members taking the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) prior to the 2024 PCC Annual Meeting; “a pilot program to offer webinars for presbytery committees” with candidates taking upcoming ordination exams; and identifying “the need for clear statements of what the exams are intended to assess and whether the current structures of the exams are aligned with that purpose and current patterns in theological education.”
[See the full list of items approved by the executive committee at the end of this article.]
The consultation, statement and executive committee actions follow committee work from last spring, when its members took several initial actions in response to concerns raised about the use of Judges 19:1-30 in the Winter 2023 Bible Exegesis Exam.
According to the full October PCC statement , the committee-appointed task force planned a day of consultation with church groups that had reached out to it with concerns about the winter exam.
“On October 18, 2023, representatives of the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy, the Advocacy Committee for Women and Gender Justice, the Association of Mid Council Leaders, the Committee on Theological Education and the Racial Equity Advocacy Committee met with the task force and members of the PCC’s Executive Committee to discuss shared concerns, experiences, understanding, hopes, and ideas related to the standard ordination exams,” the statement read. “Through worship and conversation, we all were able to listen and to be heard.”
“We look forward to future opportunities to create not only understanding but also strengthen our common commitment to Christ through the PC(USA),” the statement continued. “We offer our experience as a sign to the church of what is possible when people are willing to listen to each other. This consultation is a first step, and we look forward to further conversation with our partners in ministry.”
The Rev. Tim Cargal, Associate Director, Ministry Leadership Development, serves as primary staff support person for the committee. He said the recent in-person consultation in Chicago was used by PCC members to discuss how the concerns shared with it “should shape the development of future standard ordination exams relating to sensitive topics.”
He added that the special task force will meet virtually again on Nov. 14 “to continue its discussions and determine possible recommendations for any additional actions.”
The full list of three actions approved by the PCC executive committee after the October consultation follows:
- To continue work to address the cross-cultural accessibility of exam questions and the cultural competency of PCC members, arrangements will be made for all PCC members to take and debrief the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) prior to the 2024 PCC Annual Meeting. A debrief of the PCC group report, including some additional training in the Intercultural Development Continuum (IDC), will be scheduled during a plenary session of the annual meeting.
- A pilot program will offer webinars in conjunction with the Winter and Spring 2024 exams (on Jan. 11 and April 11, respectively) for presbytery committees overseeing those in the preparation for ministry process (CPMs) with candidates taking ordination exams relating to how they can provide support to examinees before, during and following exams, and then most effectively incorporate exam results into the overall work of discernment and oversight. The PCC will survey both CPMs and examinees approximately 3-4 weeks after exam results are released to assess impacts of the pilot program.
- The consultation raised the need for clear statements of what the exams are intended to assess and whether the current structures of the exams are aligned with that purpose and current patterns in theological education. It was noted that the current structure of the exams is aligned with a pattern of Master of Divinity curriculum (history, construction, praxis) that is no longer widespread among seminaries. The task group chairs for each area of examination will begin a process with their teams to review the exams in light of the question, “What would it look like if exam structures in each area of assessment were tied back to the ordination vows (Book of Order, W-4.0404)?”